China foreign minister leaves ASEAN dinner

Yoshimasa Hayashi, Park Jin, Prak Sokhonn, Wang Yi
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) posed for a photo with other ASEAN country representatives. -EPA

The Chinese government's top diplomat Wang Yi has walked out before the start of a gala dinner of foreign ministers at a meeting in Cambodia and was seen leaving the venue in a vehicle, witnesses say.

Wang Yi waved to media as he entered a holding room for the dinner then walked out of the venue, without giving a reason, according to Reuters journalists. 

Two witnesses working at the venue told Reuters Wang Yi was seen leaving in a vehicle.

The dinner was attended by more than a dozen foreign ministers including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japan's Yoshimasa Hayashi, and senior diplomats of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).